It is well known to suspend a shower curtain made of sheet material by engaging it with a multiplicity of hangers, also referred to as hooks, which wrap around a horizontal rod or bar running across the opening to a shower enclosure. The hangers are movable along the length of the rod, so the user can slide the curtain horizontally, for access to the enclosure and for bringing the edges of the curtain close to the sides of the enclosure to prevent water from splashing out of the enclosure.
It is also well known to have a liner associated with a shower curtain. A liner is a sheet of material which is placed inboard of the primary shower curtain so that it hangs in parallel with the curtain. Often a liner is the water shedding part of the assembly and the curtain presents a decorative appearance. A liner may be removed and separately cleaned or replaced over time.
Curtains and liners ordinarily have a series of spaced apart openings along their upper ends, so the openings can be engaged with the ends of a multiplicity of hangers positioned on a curtain rod. When a prior art hanger comprises a single hook, a substantially sized decorative medallion can be placed on the side of the hanger which is opposite the hook end, for appearance and in part to conceal the opening in the curtain. See for instance Barrese U.S. Pat. No. D591,522 and Snell U.S. Pat. No. D505,315. As shown in the patents, a typical single hook hanger commonly has a simple unsymmetrical S shape. Thus, in use, the larger end of the S loops over the curtain rod. This larger end is referred to as the loop in the description which follows. The other smaller end of the S is engaged by the upper edge of the shower curtain. In the description which follows, the smaller end of the hanger is referred to as the hook, and the whole of the item is called the hanger.
Certain kinds of double hook hangers for suspending the combination of a liner and a curtain are known. The hooks face in opposing directions: during use one hook has a mouth opening facing into the shower enclosure, and the other hook mouth faces outwardly. Barrese U.S. Pat. Publication 2006/0042002 shows such a wire-formed hanger. See also Harwanko U.S. Pat. Publication 2007/00509004, Michaelson U.S. Pat. No. D459,201 and Kim U.S. Pat. No. D630,498 for similar opposing-direction double hook hangers.
Shower curtain hangers have most often been made from steel wire, but may be made of plastic material. As shown in the foregoing publications, the tips of hooks, to which the user might be exposed during use, often have enlarged ends which serve to blunt them. For instance, a small knob may be attached to the terminal free end of a hook for functional as well as decorative purpose.
It will be appreciated by reference to patents, and by thinking about it, that for the familiar single hook hangers the size of a decorative medallion is not limited. However, in contrast, in double hook hangers that typify the prior art, exemplified by the references cited above, there is no decorative medallion and no evident way of having one, since the outward face of the hanger is the terminal end of a hook, the mouth of which hook faces a person outside the shower enclosure. While the terminal ends of the outside hooks have small knobs, the size of such must be limited since the hole or eyelet of a liner or curtain has to be passed over the knob when the liner or curtain is installed. Thus, it would be desirable to have a double hook hanger which enabled larger decorative features like those which have been associated with single hook hangers.